The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of administrators of small rural districts hold about school-based management (SBM) and to compare them with the perceptions of administrators in larger, nonrural districts. Administrators' perceptions of what should occur in SBM were compared with what they perceived does occur. Responses originally collected for the 1988 Executive Educator Survey (Heller and others, 1989) were reanalyzed for this study (N=619). Comparisons were made using the chi-square test for differences in probabilities. The McNemar test for significance of changes was used to examine within-group differences. The findings suggest that the organizational complexity and hierarchical structure of larger districts foster more marked discrepancies between the vision and reality of SBM than in small rural districts. Quantitative data are given for SBM participants, decision-making participants, the areas a school should have authority over, and the most serious obstacles to SBM. The findings suggest that: (1) the reality of SBM is more consistent than expectations of what it should be; and (2) on the distinction between what SBM should be and what SBM is, there is greater compatibility among the perceptions of administrators from small rural districts than among those of administrators from larger, nonrural districts. (RR)

Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration (Baltimore, MD, October 25-27, 1991). Abbreviated version of a study that will appear in "Educational Considerations," Spring 1992.